Lexi Nash, Ashland Gymnastics

Growing up in Ashland a young Lexi Nash was always being dragged to her older sister Marissa’s gymnastic classes. After continuously watching her sister practice the sport the younger Nash figured it was a sport that looked to be fun.
“After watching Marissa taking part in gymnastics I thought to myself that this was something that I could do and at the age of six I joined Elite Gymnastics Academy,” Nash said. “Right from the beginning I was fascinated with the beam and being able to do flips on this skinny piece of wood.”
Nash would be part of Elite right up until high school where she continued to hone her gymnastic skill. With all the works she had done over her career at the Ashland gymnastic program she was looking forward to trying out for the co-op team (Medfield- Ashland – Dover Sherborn) when she got into high school.
While performing on the beam was her go to event, she also tried out for the bars as well for MADS. However, it wasn’t too long after she realized that beam was going to be her only event on the high school level.
“I attempted the bars my freshman year but it didn’t go all that well and I didn’t go too far with it,” she said. “I felt that I had lost the skills (on the apparatus) and had no confidence in myself in trying it out during a meet.”
During her freshman campaign she found herself making it into a handful of competitions, where she put up scores in the 7 to 8 point range, but knew there were other girls on the team that were much more talented and could help the team better than she could.
“As a freshman she really didn’t have the opportunity to compete all that much on the beam because of the older girls in front of her,” MADS Coach Jen Libin said.
Following the gymnastics season, Nash joined the track team where she ran the 100 and 200 to keep in shape. Entering her sophomore year she felt she was ready to take the next step in her gymnastic career. Then during a routine warm-up she hurt herself during one of the team’s first practices. Shortly after, with the pain getting worse, she went to the doctor and found that she had a hairline fracture in not one but both of her wrists and would have to take some time off from the sport.
“When the doctor told me I was sad as I knew that I wouldn’t be able to compete at the same level that I was used to,” Nash said.
Luckily the fractures were miniscule to the point that she could get back into competing after only missing a few meets. Once she returned to the team she was on the floor in just about every meet for MADS.
“After retraining from the two broken wrists her scores were not reflected of what she was capable of doing on the beam, the Coach said. “She earned her spot to perform despite the injuries. Coming back so fast sent a message to the other girls that she was willing to do whatever it took. Instead of using her hand she incorporated other skills in her routine like jumps and turns.”
Getting back on the beam wasn’t a real problem at first, but the first time she tried to perform a skill set she misstepped and slipped off the beam, scraping her leg as she fell off.
“It was a little scary when I went face first into the mat on my first skill; it was a difficult jump that I just missed the beam. It had nothing to do with my wrtists,” Nash said. “Falling doesn’t scare me, I knew what I did wrong and just needed to get back on the beam and fix it.”
It took her about two weeks after returning, but Nash was back to her old self finding her routines easier and full of confidence.
Coming into this, her junior season with the program, she is hoping to take her beam routine to the next level.
“I want to perform better on the bar this year and although I had a set back with my wrists last year I’m looking forward to the season,” Nash said. “My goal is to get to the States. You always want to go the furthest that you can. I want to get my difficulties to a higher level and to be more challenging.”
According to Libin, the injurie not only helped Nash to get to the next level, but she is a role model to the rest of the team.
“Now that her injuries are healed, she is showing the rest of the girls that she was willing to work hard to get back and do whatever it is to be a part of the team,” Libin said. “We’re hoping that she has a good year.”
As her junior year continues Nash knows that there are a lot of girls in the league who are better on the beam because of their skill levels, but she is going work at improving her skill sets and competing on a high level.